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Glass (left), a Libertarian candidate, has been keeping a rigorous schedule and could play spoiler in the three-way race. |
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Glass said she considered the possibility of damaging Perry’s chances and thereby providing an opening for White is “of no concern whatsoever. Whether we have Rick Perry or Bill White does not matter a hill of beans. We’re still going to hell in a hand-basket.”

“Rick Perry does not own anybody’s votes and if I get them I earned them. I work far harder for my votes than any votes Rick Perry has gotten,” she continued.

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On Saturday, both White and Glass are scheduled to attend a tea party forum in Rowlett, just northeast of Dallas. Perry’s decision not to attend has caused a stir in tea party circles, with one widely read conservative blogger calling the governor “an ass.” The governor has also taken flak for shunning the state’s editorial boards and ducking debates with White.

Perry consultant David Carney said that despite the hysteria, the basic contours of the race have remained the same for most of the year. He pointed out that Libertarians have long had a presence on the Texas ballot and said the campaign has not discussed the impact of Glass even once over the past year.

“It isn’t anything unusual. It’s not anything we’re worried about. It’s just a fact of life. It’s not a worry to us,” he said.

Carney dismissed any Glass-Medina comparisons: “We are in good shape with people who believe in the tea party.”

Nonetheless, Democrats have been happily surprised by White’s ability to keep pace with Perry. Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Nathan Daschle said this week that he felt “better about this race every single day, and that’s sort of a surprise to me.”

With Perry’s polling percentage being held consistently under 50 percent, national Democrats insist Texas remains a top priority, framing the incumbent as a “part-time governor” in a midterm being rattled by another “change” narrative.

Glass’s challenge remains raising her profile in the five weeks left, with little cash and resources. But if she creeps up in the polling, Perry’s team will be confronted with the dicey decision it also faced against Medina: whether to engage her.

“Their challenge is they can’t discredit her without making her name more public. If it stays close, she really could have an impact on this race,” Martin said.

Readers' Comments (17)

The tea party will destroy the GOP before it is all over, and I, for one, could not be happier.

In Maryland, republican gubernatorial candidate, Robert Ehrlich, has not embraced his Sarah-Palin endorsed primary oppoonent, Brian Murphy, as someone who has a future in politics. There are rumblings by Murphy's supporters that they will not necessarily vote for Ehrlich. It is probable that a lot of Murphy's supporters will write in his name whether or not he declares his candidacy to do so. The republican party in Maryland is in as much disarray as it is in Florida.

Ehrlich is currently polling behind his democratic challenger, Martin O'Malley, who headlines an Irish-Rock band called O'Malley's March.

The tea party will destroy the GOP before it is all over, and I, for one, could not be happier.

In Maryland, republican gubernatorial candidate, Robert Ehrlich, has not embraced his Sarah-Palin endorsed primary oppoonent, Brian Murphy, as someone who has a future in politics. There are rumblings by Murphy's supporters that they will not necessarily vote for Ehrlich. It is probable that a lot of Murphy's supporters will write in his name whether or not he declares his candidacy to do so. The republican party in Maryland is in as much disarray as it is in Florida.

Ehrlich is currently polling behind his democratic challenger, Martin O'Malley, who headlines an Irish-Rock band called O'Malley's March.

I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Ms. Glass and her chances of winning this race. I have seen her speak and had the opportunity to meet her. She is sharp and in discussing her campaign I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have a few surprises up her sleeve.

When looking at this race it is clear that Kathie Glass is the ONLY CONSERVATIVE running for Governor in Texas. White is clearly a liberal and Perry is clearly a RINO who gave lip service to conservatives in order to win the primary. He's had 10 years to secure the Texas borders, yet again played politics in his support or rather lack of support for Jan Brewer and the Az immigration law.

kathy seems to be a no-nonsense CONSERVATIVE who took up the challenge when Debra Medina was knocked out of the race...Ms. Glass is a die-hard conservative who has the backbone Perry seems to lack in taking on Washington. Again Perry has had 10 years as Governor of Texas and prefers big Texas TALK to BIG TEXAS ACTIONS. It seems perry has adopted the same sense of excutive royalty and entitlement the Obama's have... another self-serving politician dressed up as a conservative who is actually a RINO.

Kathie Glass can win this, and may very well surprise everyone as did Brown in Massachusetts and O'Donnell in Delaware. If the Tea Party will hold to their values of voting PRINCIPAL over PARTY, Kathie Glass will be the next Governor of TEXAS!

I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Ms. Glass and her chances of winning this race. I have seen her speak and had the opportunity to meet her. She is sharp and in discussing her campaign I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have a few surprises up her sleeve.

When looking at this race it is clear that Kathie Glass is the ONLY CONSERVATIVE running for Governor in Texas. White is clearly a liberal and Perry is clearly a RINO who gave lip service to conservatives in order to win the primary. He's had 10 years to secure the Texas borders, yet again played politics in his support or rather lack of support for Jan Brewer and the Az immigration law.

kathy seems to be a no-nonsense CONSERVATIVE who took up the challenge when Debra Medina was knocked out of the race...Ms. Glass is a die-hard conservative who has the backbone Perry seems to lack in taking on Washington. Again Perry has had 10 years as Governor of Texas and prefers big Texas TALK to BIG TEXAS ACTIONS. It seems perry has adopted the same sense of excutive royalty and entitlement the Obama's have... another self-serving politician dressed up as a conservative who is actually a RINO.

Kathie Glass can win this, and may very well surprise everyone as did Brown in Massachusetts and O'Donnell in Delaware. If the Tea Party will hold to their values of voting PRINCIPAL over PARTY, Kathie Glass will be the next Governor of TEXAS!

I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Ms. Glass and her chances of winning this race. I have seen her speak and had the opportunity to meet her. She is sharp and in discussing her campaign I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have a few surprises up her sleeve.

When looking at this race it is clear that Kathie Glass is the ONLY CONSERVATIVE running for Governor in Texas. White is clearly a liberal and Perry is clearly a RINO who gave lip service to conservatives in order to win the primary. He's had 10 years to secure the Texas borders, yet again played politics in his support or rather lack of support for Jan Brewer and the Az immigration law.

kathy seems to be a no-nonsense CONSERVATIVE who took up the challenge when Debra Medina was knocked out of the race...Ms. Glass is a die-hard conservative who has the backbone Perry seems to lack in taking on Washington. Again Perry has had 10 years as Governor of Texas and prefers big Texas TALK to BIG TEXAS ACTIONS. It seems perry has adopted the same sense of excutive royalty and entitlement the Obama's have... another self-serving politician dressed up as a conservative who is actually a RINO.

Kathie Glass can win this, and may very well surprise everyone as did Brown in Massachusetts and O'Donnell in Delaware. If the Tea Party will hold to their values of voting PRINCIPAL over PARTY, Kathie Glass will be the next Governor of TEXAS!

The Libertarian candidate could be a stalking horse for Governor Rick "Blagojevich" Perry. Since Blago Perry won't meet with editorial boards, or debate his opponent, it falls to Glass to do his dirty work for him. Blago Perry can avoid explaining his corrupt land deals at Horseshoe Bend (and the concomitant influence peddling involved), while Glass provides the face of articulate opposition against the popular former mayor of the state's largest city, Houston.

On Saturday, both White and Glass are scheduled to attend a tea party forum in Rowlett, just northeast of Dallas. Perry’s decision not to attend has caused a stir in tea party circles, with one widely read conservative blogger calling the governor “an ass.” The governor has also taken flak for shunning the state’s editorial boards and ducking debates with White.

Obviously, Mayor White is not afraid to debate anywhere, any time.

Gov. Pergojevich, on the otherhand, must hide "like a guilty thing surprised".

Gov. Blago Perry has never had a job other than political office and is concerned about how he is going to make it once he no longer gets a paycheck from the tax payers.

Being great at projection, Pergojevich has been accusing White of not paying taxes in 1995, the year White left the Energy Department in August. This charge has been ruled false by Politifact.

So, Pergojevich has no excuse for failure to debate, other than naked fear.

I have been at a Tea Party where Mrs. Glass spoke, I only wish more people were worried about doing whats right, instead of what party. She spoke about her plan, cutting budget by 50 percent, exchanging property tax for sale tax so that you can keep your home instead of renting it from the state. if the State doesnt cut the budget and continues on this path it will be handing out IOU like Calf.

TAKE A STAND! Its not about a party its about your kids and grandkids.

Perry's press release did not say what kind of taxes he meant, though we suspect most observers would conclude that he is referring to White not paying federal income taxes that year. Perry said as much as we wrapped up our research on this topic, telling San Antonio's KTSA-550 AM last week that White "didn't pay any income tax in 1995." We believe that dramatic charge is impossible to independently prove or disprove without access to the relevant White tax return.

Later that day, White told the station: "I served part of the year in the federal government. I paid income tax; there was withholding. And the other half of the year, when I was out of government, I lost money in my business with a self-employed business and so then I got a refund."

Some background: White's tax returns have proved a Perry talking point. While White has released returns from his mayoral tenure (2004-09), Perry said he would not agree to a debate until he made public his tax returns from when he was deputy energy secretary in President Bill Clinton's administration (1993-95) and chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98). That didn't happen.

Katy Bacon, White's campaign spokeswoman, declined to share the candidate's 1995 tax return or grant us an interview with White's accountant. But to counter Perry's charge that White paid no taxes while earning his federal pay in 1995, she sent us figures that she said White's camp gave the Dallas newspaper in August; they showed White's annual taxable income from 1993 through 1995 and his annual tax liability. For 1995, White's taxable income was listed as zero and his tax as $3,482.

Katinka Podmaniczky, an Energy Department spokeswoman, confirmed that White's annual salary at the agency was $133,600. He resigned from the post in August 1995, according to White's 1995 federal financial disclosure report.

Bacon told us in an e-mail that White grossed nearly $90,000 for his work at the department that year and that $21,568 in federal income taxes were withheld from his paycheck. He did not have another job in 1995 for which federal taxes were withheld, she said.

"After he left Department of Energy, while starting a new business, his losses were such that he had no 'taxable income' and a refund of $24,186," Bacon said. (His refund was larger than the amount of taxes withheld, she said, because "he had also paid in estimated taxes and had rolled over an overpayment from 1994 that totalled $6,100.")

She said the new business was White Acquisitions, which "pursued investments in oil and gas services and oil and gas." She told us that the firm was formed in September 1995 and dissolved on the last day of 1997. According to Bacon, White owned the company, there were no other investors and he was the "sole shareholder."

Based solely on information from the White campaign, here's the tax math so far: Counting what he paid through withholding and estimated tax payments, plus his overpayment from 1994, White was credited with paying a total of $27,668 in income tax in 1995. His business losses the same year erased most of his tax liability, so he received a $24,186 refund. That left $3,482, which the federal government kept because he owed "household employment taxes ... on the income he paid to his employee," a housekeeper, Bacon said.

Separately, we asked a tax policy expert whether it's possible to have no taxable income while still paying federal taxes on earnings.

Sure, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington. He told us that if White's taxable income was zero after all of his investment losses and other adjustments (exemptions, deductions, credits) were taken into account, his federal income tax liability would indeed have been zero. That would have produced a refund of income tax.

However, Williams said, the vast majority of American workers also pay Medicare and Social Security taxes, commonly known as payroll taxes, which the government doesn't refund. If White paid those, "they are gone," Williams said.

To address this aspect without handing over White's tax return, his campaign agreed to our suggestion that White ask the Energy Department to release all the taxes that were withheld from his pay in 1995. In an e-mail to the White campaign that was forwarded to us, the agency's payroll department listed $21,568.45 in federal income taxes, $3,794.40 in Social Security and $1,302.55 in Medicare taxes that were withheld from White's pay.

(According to his 1995 tax return, Perry had $3,794 in Social Security and $1,121 in Medicare taxes withheld from the state salary he received as state agriculture commissioner.)

Now to the Truth-O-Meter: Perry's press release claimed that White "didn't pay taxes while earning $133,600 annual salary as deputy secretary of energy." Later, he said he was referring to income taxes. Regardless of what sort of taxes Perry meant, we confirmed that White was paying taxes — income, Medicare and Social Security — while he was making that salary during the first eight months of 1995.

White said he got income taxes back after filing his tax return. Why? His business losses later that year largely offset the income taxes he had already paid through withholding, he said, leaving him with no taxable income in 1995.

Is that the same as White paying no taxes that year while he did his federal job, as Perry says? We think not.

Three years after Gov. Rick Perry's biggest real estate score, questions persist about whether the governor benefited from favoritism, backroom dealing and influence-buying.

The Dallas Morning News found evidence that Perry's investment was enhanced by a series of professional courtesies and personal favors from friends, campaign donors and the head of a Texas family with a rich history of political power-brokering.

Together they may have enriched Perry by almost $500,000, according to an independent real estate appraisal commissioned by The News.

The governor's staff insists these were routine, legal deals that were properly handled. They point to a bank's appraisal, done when Perry sold his land in 2007, that said the buyer was paying Perry slightly less than market value.

Experts hired by The News dismissed that appraisal as "unsupported" and said it did not meet professional standards. County tax appraisals at the time also indicated that the governor was able to buy the land below market value and sell far above it.

Perry, in a brief interview last week, said every land transaction he has made while in office "has been open and honest, and at arm's length," and disclosed in public records.

"So I would just have folks take a look at the record, and I think the record pretty much speaks for itself," Perry said. "Being open and being honest and being at arm's length is what people expect every day."

April-May 2005: After talking with Ron Mitchell, the resort vice chairman, Perry lists his Peninsula lot for sale with Horseshoe Bay Resort Realty for about $1.2 million. He pulls the listing after about five months without receiving any offers.

As a libertarian, she has my vote. I will never against vote for the lessor of two evils...it gets us nowhere. The current governor of Texas, its Senators and Representatives should be resisting all of these illegal laws and regulations coming out of Washington. The 10th Amendment shows the states are in control of their own actions....only 17 enumerated powers were given to the federal government. Jefferson's principal of nullification should be utilized right now!!!!!!